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For years, anybody who knows anything about cruising was quickly “educated” about The Jones Act. In a nutshell, it’s a rule that forces all cruise ships originating in the U.S. to make at least one stop at an international port. It also forces cruise ships registered in America to employ only U.S. citizens (or residents with work visas), which is why Pride of America is the only notable cruise ship registered in the U.S.

Shame on us…

For who-knows-how-many-years, “cruises to nowhere” have openly been promoted, sold and enjoyed — specifically but not exclusively by Carnival. They’re on cruise ships that leave a port, sail around in international waters for a day or three and return without making a port call.

Shame on us…

This week, the U.S. Government ruled that as of 2016, cruise ships will no longer be allowed to do that. A spokesperson told Cruise Critic: “…it has been the longstanding position of CBP [Customs and Border Protection] that D-1 visa holders are not eligible to serve as crew members on cruises to nowhere” and “a D-1 visa holder is eligible to serve as a crew member on a vessel only if the crew member 'intends to land [in the United States] temporarily and solely in the pursuit of his calling as a crewman and to depart from the United States with the vessel.”

Shame on us…

For not being able to understand that gobblydegook, which effectively means all cruise ships would have to employ only U.S. workers on these “cruises to nowhere.” You can argue the merits or demerits of this 80-year-old legislation all you want, but the bottom line is that smarter minds than ours — they are countless — knew that The Jones Act meant cruise ships leaving the U.S. had to make one international port call (aka, Ensenada, Victoria, Vancouver).

Shame…

On the other hand, how long did it take the U.S. Government to figure it out?

In the news…

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• Royal Caribbean appoints president for China & North Asia region